‘Super speeders’ face new fine in Georgia

Anyone convicted of driving 75 miles per hour or more on a two-lane road or 85 miles per hour or more on any road in the state faces new penalties.

Under the so-called “Super Speeder Law” that went into effect Jan. 1, drivers will be fined an additional $200 on top of local fines that may be leveled. Authorities say the new law will help stop people driving at dangerous speeds.

Revenues collected under the new law will help fund the state’s trauma care hospital system. Roughly 60 percent of all trauma-care-patients are crash-related, officials say.

According to the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, there were 384 fatalities statewide in 2006 related to “unsafe” or “illegal” speed, the most recent year for which statistics were immediately available. In addition, GOHS says speed plays a factor in nearly 22 percent of fatal crashes.